- A student in Taiwan had his legs amputated to claim $1.3 million in insurance payouts, prosecutors said.
- The Criminal Investigation Bureau said the man soaked his feet for 10 hours in dry ice to get frostbite.
- But the plan backfired when medical staff thought his injuries seemed suspicious, the bureau said.
A university student in Taiwan who had his legs amputated in hopes of receiving a $1.3 million insurance payout has been arrested on suspicion of fraud, local prosecutors say.
The 23-year-old, identified only by his last name, Zhang, plunged his feet in a bucket of dry ice for more than 10 hours to get them so badly frostbitten that he would need a double amputation, the Taiwan Criminal Investigation Bureau said in a Thursday release.
The bureau said a friend of Zhang’s from high school, identified only as Liao, persuaded him to carry out the insurance scam.
Liao, also 23, suffered losses from trading cryptocurrency, and he tricked Zhang into signing a legal note obligating him to pay about $800,000, investigators said.
The local media outlet Taiwan News reported that Liao told Zhang that gangsters were pursuing him.
On January 26, 2023, Liao and Zhang rode around Taipei on a motorbike at night, wanting to present the claim that Zhang was afflicted with frostbite while riding the vehicle in the late evening, investigators said.
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